1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to educational puzzles. More specifically, the present invention discloses a spherical puzzle with shaped puzzle pieces that attach to a sphere to provide an effective geography education tool.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An understanding of geography is a basic fundamental of education. However, it can be difficult for students to grasp physical relationships or features of various countries of continents with the current educational tools.
Refer to FIG. 1A, which is a drawing illustrating a flat two-dimensional map of the prior art. The conventional flat two-dimensional map 100 is typically a printed piece of paper containing outlines of various countries 105.
When used as a learning tool, students must solely rely on memorization in order to learn the various countries 105 on the map 100. However, it is difficult for students to learn relationships between countries, country locations, and shapes of countries as the countries 105 printed on the map 100 are fixed.
A number of flat maps 100 can be bound in a book to form an atlas. However, the conventional atlas has the same disadvantages as a single flat map 100.
Refer to FIG. 1B, which is a drawing illustrating a conventional globe of the prior art. A globe 120 is another conventional tool to learn geography. Outlines of countries of the world 125 are printed on a paper which is then adhered to a round cardboard ball. While students can obtain a better sense of country location than with a map, the printed map of the globe 120 is fixed and the student has difficulty learning country shape.
Refer to FIG. 1C, which is a drawing illustrating a portion of a conventional jigsaw puzzle of the prior art. Jigsaw puzzles 150 are a common entertaining game where players fit puzzle pieces 151 together to form a single picture. While challenging and fun the shape of the individual puzzle pieces 151 bear no relationship with the content or image printed on the piece. Therefore, players tend to rely on trying to fit pieces in various locations until they find the proper position. This disadvantage makes conventional jigsaw puzzles 150 an inferior learning tool.
Therefore, there is need for an improved means of effectively providing and learning geographical information in an entertaining and informative manner.